Kiba Inuzuka
}} | english = }} is one of the main supporting characters of the series. He is a Chunin-level Shinobi of Konohagakure and a member of the Inuzuka clan, as well as a member of the Chunin team, Team Kurenai, along with Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga. Kiba is usually seen with and fights in collaboration with his partner, Akamaru. Background During Kiba's time at the academy, he often cut class with Akamaru, stating that he wasn't suited to sit still at a desk, or otherwise getting into trouble, along with Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Naruto Uzumaki. Together, these four would skip class or otherwise be testing the patience of Iruka Umino, their Chunin-sensei. Personality Kiba is often short-tempered and impulsive (in stark contrast to his teammates Shino and Hinata), and can be prone to making mistakes when he becomes agitated in battle. The fact that he enjoys combat, as well as a habit of showing a joyful smile when facing a particularly strong opponent, indicates that he is willing to risk his life for a mission. He deeply cares for Akamaru, and is willing to do whatever is necessary to protect him. And, despite his rather gruff attitude, many of Kiba's actions reveal that he is very close to his older sister, Hana Inuzuka, and remains fiercely loyal to the Inuzuka clan. Kiba often argues with Shino over what course of action the group should take, particularly when Shino advises caution. Kiba often sees himself as the group leader, and becomes offended at any of Shino's actions that he perceives as challenging his leadership. It seems that there was a contest for leadership of Team 8 during the Chunin Exams, as Kiba said Hinata voted for him. Despite his disagreements with Shino, he considers Shino a friend, and respects his fighting capabilities. Kiba gets along well with Hinata, but tends to worry about her, urging her to be strong before the second phase of the exam, and to forfeit rather than face a dangerous opponent. Kiba apparently likes to tease Hinata about her affections for Naruto. These teasings usually consist of telling her that Naruto is nearby, or just mentioning her reactions to him to other people, much to her embarrassment. Appearance Kiba's personality and jutsu style are further enhanced by his wild appearance. While clearly human, he has several physical traits more akin to animals. Like the rest of his clan, he has messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, pronounced canine teeth, and nails that he can change into claws. He also has the distinct red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks. During Part I, Kiba's attire consisted of baggy pants and a hooded coat. During Part II, his outfit changed to a dark leather jacket and pants, giving him a biker-like appearance. Part I Chunin Exam arc During the first phase of the Chunin Exams, Kiba used Akamaru to spy on the other examinees' tests and tell him the answers. During the second phase of the exam, while Team 8 easily took an Earth scroll from a rival team, Kiba wished to acquire yet another to narrow the competition, despite Shino and Hinata's reservations. While investigating a confrontation between two teams, they witnessed Gaara killing three Rain Genin, with Akamaru being traumatized by the sight. Kiba was matched against Naruto in the seventh match of the preliminaries. Kiba thought that he would easily win, since Naruto had been the worst student at the academy. Naruto then became extremely annoyed at Kiba's low opinion of him. While Kiba initially had an advantage, due to his superior speed and strengthening Akamaru with a Military Rations Pill, Naruto tricked him into knocking Akamaru unconscious, then, after blowing off in Kiba's face (overwhelming his sense of smell and disorienting him), defeated him with the first use of Naruto Uzumaki Combo. Kiba regained consciousness on the stretcher, and urged Hinata to forfeit if she was matched against Gaara or Neji Hyuga. A month later, at the finals, Kiba watched the match between Naruto and Neji with Hinata. He appeared to have gained respect for Naruto at this point, as, when he heard Izumo and Kotetsu doubting Naruto's abilities to win, Kiba remembered how he had thought the same thing during his own match with Naruto, and had ended up losing. He also loudly cheered for Naruto during the match. After Kabuto healed Hinata when she began coughing up blood, he rendered Kiba unconscious (in the anime, he was about to recognize him), leaving him unable to assist Konoha's ninja in the invasion. Sasuke Retrieval arc Kiba was the only member of Team 8 to assist in trying to stop Sasuke Uchiha from defecting from Konoha. After Naruto seized the container holding Sasuke, a letter bomb (set by Akamaru) exploded and knocked Kiba, Sakon and Ukon into a gorge. Kiba and Akamaru fought against Sakon and Ukon, but, despite using their Dual Wolf Fang against the brothers, were ultimately outmatched. Kiba retreated with Akamaru, and both were eventually assisted by Kankuro, who trapped and killed the brothers with his puppets. Kiba was wounded with severe, but not life-threatening, lacerations, but Akamaru had suffered much harsher damage; tendons in all four of his legs had been ripped. After Akamaru recovered, Kiba swore to never let anything happen to him again. Pre-Shippūden filler arcs Kiba made a number of appearances in the anime's filler arcs, often being sent on missions with Hinata and Naruto. He typically fought with Naruto over who should lead the team. In one episode, Episode 158: Follow My Lead! The Great Survival Challenge, the Academy Students were divided into teams of three and were assigned to a genin who would lead them on a mission against the other teams. Kiba was assigned to lead a team of three academy students: Taiga, Rai and Yamano. His time with them was not covered much, except that he was doing better than Naruto. Hunt for the Bikochu arc Kiba, Hinata, Shino, and Naruto were sent on a mission to find a Bikochu Beetle which could be used to track down Sasuke Uchiha. They went to the forest where the Bikochu was, but there were some ninja of the Kamizuru clan watching them who wanted the insect too. After Hinata was able to locate and capture the insect, she was taken prisoner by the Kamizuru clansmen, to be used as an exchange for the Bikochu. Kiba and the others went to rescue her, but tried to trick the Kamizuru into giving them Hinata before they gave up the Bikochu. They were tricked too, being attacked by the Kamizuru when they met and subsequently trapped in a cave. Hinata was able to rescue them, but the mission failed when Naruto blew off and made the Bikochu useless. Bounty Hunter arc Kiba, Hinata and Naruto were assigned the easy task of capturing a crook. In searching for information about the crook, they met Sazanami, who was pursuing the thief too. Sazanami told them that the thief, Gosunkugi, was a dangerous killer, and also a skilled ninja. Sazanami said that he didn't want any competition, and rendered them all unconscious. When he was later wounded fighting Gosunkugi, they took him to safety, in turn discovering that he was also a wanted criminal. The bounty hunter revealed that he had been framed for murdering a family, and that the thief that he and Kiba's group were hunting was the culprit. Kiba, Naruto and Hinata located the thief in a nearby city, in the process of attempting to steal a valuable bell. Sazanami arrived, and the four began fighting with the allies of Gosunkugi, which actually was just a trap to capture them while the thief stole the bell. Sazanami captured the thief, but he was suddenly captured by another hunter, only for Sazanami to be proven innocent in the end. Despite this, Kiba's group failed the mission, because they did not capture the thief. Treasure Hunt arc Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata were once again teamed together, this time to find a treasure chest. They were given a mission to test their teamwork, and told they would return to the academy if they failed this mission like they had their previous ones. They were ambushed during the mission, and were trapped by three people who could copy their identities, smells, and thoughts. Working together, the group escaped from a cave-in with the treasure, but learnt that Hinata had injured her leg. After realizing that Naruto and Kiba argued too often while Hinata worried for the others too much, they headed into town to stop their copies. When they arrived at Konoha, Kiba defeated his and Hinata's copies, but the one of Naruto was still on the run and causing a lot of trouble. The three Genin learnt that the mission was a test to see if they could work together as a team, and that they passed it with honors. Kiba's Long Day Kiba's relationship with Akamaru was highlighted in the Kiba's Long Day episode. After Akamaru was infected with a biological weapon that caused him to go berserk, Kiba believed that Naruto was trying to find and kill Akamaru, and attempted to take Akamaru out of Konoha. Kiba eventually stopped resisting when he learned of Naruto and Hana's true intentions, but was paralyzed by the prospect that their plan might still require them to kill Akamaru. He eventually regained his senses and appealed to Akamaru, causing Akamaru to regain enough of his true self to avoid killing Kiba, and allowed him to administer the antidote. Other arcs Naruto and Kiba continued to be teamed together, proving successful in their missions to a haunted castle, escorting a man named Shinemon, and providing back-up for Kurenai. In the last episode of the filler arcs, when some ninja tried to steal Gaara's power, Kiba and the rest of the Konoha 11 were sent to help the Sand ninja. Kiba and Choji went to help Kankuro, in thanks for helping in the fight with Sakon and Ukon. Kiba defeated the enemy, and then they went to Gaara's aid. Part II When Naruto returned to Konoha after rescuing Gaara, Kiba appeared riding on a much larger Akamaru, but said he hadn't noticed Akamaru's growth, due to spending so much time with him. When Naruto asked Kiba to go on a mission with him, Kiba was forced to turn him down, due to a mission he and his team had already been assigned. Fire Temple arc In the anime, after having a discussion with Sora, Kiba assisted in the defense of Konoha, when Kazuma's army attacked. He was shown fighting alongside Rock Lee and Choji, and was eventually joined by Shikamaru Nara and Ino Yamanaka as the battle came to a close. Kiba led the team to where Naruto was confronting Sora. There, they tried to stop Sora, but all failed with their attacks. Kiba was healed by Ino, and, along with Choji, they tried again to attack Sora. He, along with the others, was only able to watch the battle until it ended. Three-Tails Arrival arc In another of the anime-exclusive arcs, Team 8 (minus Kurenai) was led by Kakashi to find one of Orochimaru's hidden bases. Because they might encounter Sasuke, they were forbidden to tell Naruto about the mission. As the team neared Orochimaru's hideout, Kiba remembered his fight with Sakon and Ukon. When Hinata and Kakashi asked him if he was alright, he replied to his team that he wasn't worried, and, since Shikamaru and Naruto had showed their new abilities against Akatsuki, it was now his turn to show his improvement, too. When they arrived at the base, it soon began to collapse in on itself. Because of Akamaru, they were able to escape in time, and began looking for survivors. Kiba and Akamaru used their sense of smell to search the area and, along the way, they picked up on a high-pitched whistle. Although initially suspecting that the enemy might be using dogs, since normal people couldn't hear it, Kiba realized that it was an ultrasonic sound, used only by bats, which were spying on them. Their location exposed, they were soon ambushed. Kiba decided to go after Nurari, because he thought he was the weakest, but Kigiri used a smokescreen which robbed Kiba and Akamaru of their sense of smell. Hinata told him to go, because he could end up hurt, and, after feeling helpless, Kiba managed to blow away the smokescreen with a repeated use of his Piercing Fang. The enemies retreated, but Team 8 was drawn into a trap set by Guren. Kiba fought several copies of Guren, until Naruto and the rest of Team 7 arrived to help them escape. Kiba and Akamaru led the rest of the team to Guren's location by following the bats, but, upon arrival, they were overwhelmed by a tidal wave created by the Three-Tailed Beast. Having lost track of Guren and her forces, the team was reorganized, with Kiba being added to a defense team with Rock Lee and Tenten and led by Yamato, which was meant to prevent intruders from interfering with the sealing of the Three-Tails. When each team left to accomplish their tasks, Kiba started explaining to their teammates about Guren's henchmen's abilities. After Rock Lee and Tenten's attack, Akamaru used his Dynamic Marking on the enemies, which continued to work even in the scent-removing smokescreen, and Kiba and Akamaru then finished them off with their Dual Piercing Fang. The team split in two, and Kiba went with Yamato to go with Kakashi's team and help them. After the unsuccessful attempt of capturing the Three-Tails, the group separated again, and Kiba joined a search team to find Naruto. After learning that Naruto was inside the Three-Tails, Kiba was assigned the job of guarding the area from attackers. He was surprised to see that Guren's men had arrived again, and were perfectly capable of fighting. Surprised by the new enhanced power of the enemy, Kiba was defeated along with the rest of his team, but survived, thanks to he and Akamaru being able to hide themselves underground, thus only suffering an injury in his leg. Kiba and his team were on the way to tell Kakashi about the new power of their enemies, but, on the way, Kiba and Akamaru found Sai, barely alive, so they helped him. They arrived where Kakashi and the others had defeated Guren's henchmen; but, after another failed attempt to capture the Three-Tails, they retreated back. Later, Kiba and the others were given new orders from Tsunade to return to the village to formulate a new plan for dealing with the Three-Tails. During the night, before the team returned, Yūkimaru left, and the next, Kiba had a brief discussion with Naruto because of that. Being aware of Yūkimaru's departure, they still left the place, and returned to Konoha. Hunt for Itachi arc Later, Kakashi formed the Eight Man Squad, which Team Kurenai then became a part of, in the hunt for Itachi Uchiha. When the mission was sidetracked, due to them being close to Sasuke's trail, Kiba managed to pick up on Sasuke's scent after Kakashi's ninken proved unable to. On the way, however, they encountered Tobi of Akatsuki, and proceeded to do battle with him. After Shino's attack missed, Kiba was the only one able to sense him, and tried to hit him, only to miss too. They fought him together, but no-one was able to land a single blow. The mission ended in failure, when Tobi and Zetsu collected Sasuke before the Eight Man Squad could get there. Invasion of Pain arc During the assault, and the chaos created by Pain, Kiba was together with his teammates, watching the disaster. Kiba then joined his mother in fighting the Preta path, because of the advantage he had on it thanks to his proficient taijutsu. The body retreated, for Pain was in need of its technique, and Kiba, his mother, and their dogs were caught in the Shinra Tensei that destroyed the village. He appeared to have suffered significant injuries, and his mother told him to hang in there until help arrived. He was later seen again with Katsuyu, watching the battle of Naruto against Pain, noting that the Konoha ninja should just put their faith in Naruto. Kiba was next seen along with all his friends, thanking Naruto for saving them. Five Kage Summit arc Afterwards, he was seen rushing to Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi, informing them that Tsunade had been dismissed as Hokage, and that Danzo was now the Sixth Hokage. He also informed them that Danzo had given permission for Sasuke to be disposed of as a missing-nin. Abilities Agility It has been shown that, among all the ninjas, Kiba has been one of the fastest ninja in the anime and manga. In his first fight against Naruto, he stated that Kiba was too quick to even get in a hit. He is adept in a form of taijutsu in which the moves resemble capoiera or breakdancing. In Part II, during his fight against Tobi, not only was Kiba the only one able to discover where Tobi had teleported to, he was even fast enough to surprise Tobi and attack him from behind, without anybody noticing the attack. Enhanced Senses As a member of the Inuzuka clan, Kiba possesses enhanced senses of hearing and smell. His most powerful sense, and weapon, is his sense of smell. In Part II, during The Hunt for Itachi Uchiha Arc, he stated that his nose was stronger than any ninja hound, a feat that impressed Kakashi, and with which he replied that all the Inuzuka clan must be proud of him. But Kiba also replied to Hinata that, despite his nose being a great advantage, his powerful scent of smell was like a double-edged sword, rendering him vulnerable to strong odors. During his Man Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf, he is able to follow his enemy with his sense of smell after Akamaru uses Dynamic Marking. Inuzuka Clan Abilities He is proficient in several canine-based jutsu. His battle style is usually a combination of taijutsu enhanced by his special clan jutsu. He fights and attacks with the ferocity of a beast, utilizing his sharp claws and other beast-like abilities that he gains from his Four-Legged Technique. Despite his pride as an individual fighter, he usually performs tag-team tactics with Akamaru. Together, they can attack at high speed with excellent coordination, as Kiba can turn Akamaru into an identical clone of himself. In dire circumstances, they are able to transform together into a giant two-headed wolf, where they can use their Dual Wolf Fang, which is almost impossible to avoid, let alone block. Other Media Kiba is frequently a playable character in the Naruto video games, appearing in four of the seven Clash of Ninja titles. He also appears in 7 of the 8 titles in the Ultimate Ninja Series. Trivia * Kiba was ranked as 15th most popular character in the sixth and most recent Naruto character popularity poll. He was 12th in the fifth poll and 17th in the fourth. * According to Kiba, his mother scared his father away. * His name, Kiba Inuzuka, is based on the samurai Inuzuka of Nansō Satomi Hakkenden, a novel about a dog samurai. * Kiba means "fang", whilst Inu means "dog" and zuka means "a small hill". * According to the databook: ** Kiba's hobby is to take walks with Akamaru. Kiba also eats with Akamaru, and he personally prepares Akamaru's food. He also bathes with Akamaru, and lets Akamaru sleep in his bed with him. On missions, Kiba used to let Akamaru sleep in his sleeping bag - these days Kiba will just huddle up with Akamaru and share a blanket with him. ** Kiba wishes for a rematch with Naruto Uzumaki. ** Kiba's favorite foods are beef steak jerky and cartilage, while his least favorite are shark fin soup and anything not chewy. ** Kiba has completed 50 official missions in total: 21 D-rank, 19 C-rank, 8 B-rank, 2 A-rank, 0 S-rank. ** Kiba's registration number is 012620. Quotes * "Yahoo! Akamaru, let's do this!" * "All right! Way to go, Naruto!" * (To Naruto) "You? Hokage? You can't even beat me! No-one's deluded enough to think that you have what it takes to become the next Hokage, not even you! Tell you what, though ... I'll become Hokage in your place!" * "Heh, I don't know what's going on, but I'm always up for getting wild." * (To Ukon) "Let's die together." References